THE M WORLD CUP… OF STEAK: Homage to Hosting the Rugby World Cup

In honour of the opening weekend of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, M Restaurant in Bank turned itself into a culinary playing field for all it’s best-loved steak-producing countries to battle it out for the coveted M World Cup of Steak. The sell-out event was hosted by the revered and affable food critics, Joe Warwick and Charles Campion and of course Martin Williams the restauranteur and founder of M. Joining them on the judges table was the young and talented Oliver Gladwin, chef proprietor of The Shed and Rabbit restaurants.

Dinner was curated using a ‘quarterfinals’ structure with the eight competing countries which made it through from the regional heats. Each of the four courses was a ‘match’ fixture where two steaks were sampled then diners would vote on their favourite and the winners made it through to the semi finals. The judges then decided which countries out of the four would make it into the final and the diners would get the final say in choosing the winner.

After a warm introduction from Joe Warwick, Charles Campion shared a few words of his steak wisdom with us and spoke of how dismayed he is to hear people saying “Their steak was so tender it could be cut with back of their fork” and continued “Steak should taste delicious …. and something that I should be able to chew”. Quite right Charles, who could possibly doubt your expertise?

The countries who fiercely fought themselves into the semi finals were:
Ireland, with a luxuriously juicy paler meat with a delicately flavoured Glenarm Shorthorn sirloin
The USA, with a deeply flavoursome and richly marbled meaty Black Angus rib-eye
Japan, with a Tajima-Gyu Kobe Grade 10+ rump – need we say more?!
and Australia, with a Wagyu Blackmore grade 9++ rump that was infinitely better than it’s opposition’s offering!
Each steak were paired with a unique cocktail with some ingredients representative of the country.

Then in an Ireland vs Japan final, as culinary art-imitating-life would have it, Japan narrowly won over just a couple more points than Ireland and the incredibly rich and luxurious Kobe Grade 10+ rump was crowned the winner of the inaugural M World Cup of Steak.

Founder Martin Williams has created a clever brand which appeals to many; the big appetites of those in the City with a wonderful selection of top quality meat at M Grill; something for the health conscious without compromising on taste, which also serves the breakfast trade at M RAW; the wine lovers paradise, complete with exclusive lockers in which to store your half-consumed investment at M Wine and a carefully curated cocktail menu at M Bar

. M in Bank is definitely a restaurant worth making a visit to, especially during the world cup, where there is a large screen set up in the main dining room for anyone who couldn’t possibly miss out.